This thesis details a research study supported by Michigan State University's Usability/Accessibility Research and Consulting center (UARC) and Writing in Digital Environments (WIDE) research center, which sought to better understand both the writing and reading practices of college students with dyslexia and the role that assistive technology plays within them. To do this we utilized usability testing as a methodological base and focused on tasks that were indicative of the types of literacy skills required of college students, which included a heavy emphasis on tasks that involved both reading and writing (e.g. writing a summary of a paper being read) and skills associate with what Jeanie Chall calls higher level literacy (1983).Overall this study had two significant findings: 1) dyslexic participants were just as likely to utilize strategies indicative of higher level literacy skills as non-dyslexic counterparts, and 2) strategy (the way that participants approached the tasks) was a much stronger determiner of participant success than either whether or not they were dyslexic or used assistive technology. These findings have implications for the design of future assistive technology, the policies of university disability resource centers, writing and reading pedagogy, and future research into the literate practices of individuals with dyslexia.
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